Asia in Pictures
Japan marks the second anniversary of the March 11, 2011 disasters, a worker removes a dead pig from a river that supplies water to Shanghai, activists clash with police in Bangladesh, and more.

Starr Backed on Class-Action Bid
A company run by the former chief executive of AIG won the right to pursue as a class action its case against the U.S. government, alleging that elements of AIG's financial-crisis bailout package were unconstitutional.

GOP Lawmaker Shows How to Woo Latinos
As the national GOP seeks to improve its dismal standing with Hispanic voters, Rep. Steve Pearce, a very conservative Anglo who keeps winning elections in a predominantly Latino district, has some advice. Part of a series

Falklands Vote to Remain U.K. Territory
Residents of the Falkland Islands voted in favor of remaining a U.K. territory in a referendum aimed at blunting an Argentine diplomatic offensive aimed at getting the U.K. to negotiate the sovereignty of the disputed archipelago.

Toyota's U.S. Unit Forms PAC
Toyota's U.S. unit has formed a political action committee, an unusual move for a foreign auto maker that comes three years after its chief executive was grilled at a congressional hearing.

Both Sides of SEC Nominee Face Heat
Lawmakers grilling Mary Jo White, President Barack Obama's nominee for chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, on Tuesday will have to weigh two seemingly contradictory versions of the attorney.

GE Chief's Pay Rose 19% in 2012
GE beat the S&P 500 last year and rewarded CEO Jeffrey Immelt for it. The CEO's total compensation jumped 19% to $25.8 million in 2012, including a $12.1 million long-term performance bonus.

Turning Their Clowns Upside Down
On Thursday, director and choreographer Jeff Calhoun went to the Signature Theatre to see the new slapstick variety show, "Old Hats," starring Bill Irwin, David Shiner and Nellie McKay.

Gun Groups Lobby Connecticut Lawmakers
Hundreds of firearm owners unhappy with the political momentum toward stricter gun control flocked to the capital to convince elected officials to oppose the proposed restrictions.

White House Demands China Stop Hacking
The White House accused China of hacking U.S. companies on an "unprecedented scale" and demanded that the attacks stop, in the administration's most pointed public criticism yet.

City Leaders Fear Tax Plan
As a bill to overhaul New Jersey's tax-incentive programs rapidly makes its way through the state Legislature, some city leaders and planning groups are raising concerns that the legislation will shift development away from urban centers.

Obama's Capitol Hill Foray
President Barack Obama has spent the past week urging Republicans to reopen talks to reach a broad deficit-reduction deal. When he travels to Capitol Hill this week, he likely will find he has work to do to move his own party toward an agreement as well.

Eulogizing a Tournament That Passed Years Ago
The 14 teams still in the Big East are coming together for one last hurrah this week. It is officially a thing—the end of an era and all that. But why is everyone so sad?

Venezuelan Media Sale Elicits Worries
The owner of the lone television network critical of the government in Venezuela said Monday a hostile government coerced him to sell the station, raising concerns that media freedoms will be further eroded as the politically polarized country prepares for presidential elections next month.

The Will of Koch: Legacy, Family
At least some of the $100,000 Ed Koch set aside in his will to "promote public and government service" will underwrite a series of student-made films about the mayor's 12 years in office.

KKR Considers Bid for Life Technologies
KKR is considering teaming with other private-equity firms to pursue biotech firm Life Technologies, in the latest sign that buyout shops are still willing to form "clubs" if they covet a large target.

Judge Halts New York Ban on Large Sodas
A judge struck down New York City's ban on large sugary drinks Monday, a day before it was to kick in—dealing a blow to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's latest public-health effort.

Ryan Plan Revives '12 Election Issues
Republican House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan plans to introduce a proposal to overhaul Medicare and Medicaid that is almost identical to the Republican presidential platform in the 2012 election.

No Quick Vote for Consumer Chief
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray will get a Senate hearing Tuesday for a full term as head of the consumer regulator, but there is little chance his nomination moves ahead anytime soon.

After Afghan Raid, Focus on Captors
A daylight raid on one of Afghanistan's top universities over the weekend is focusing attention on the secretive paramilitary unit that allegedly carried it out—a group of Afghan operatives mentored by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, according to people familiar with it.

Cardinals Gather, Face Varied Agendas
Eight years after cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel and picked a new pope who would continue on his predecessor's traditionalist path, the choice to succeed Pope Benedict XVI doesn't appear as clear-cut.

Mobile Devices Are Put to Work
The mobile revolution—which has changed life in so many ways, from getting driving directions to sharing photos—is seeping into corporate technology, allowing advances like rapidly updated blueprints on a construction site.

Uniformed Afghan Opens Fire on Meeting, Killing 9
A member of a U.S.-trained Afghan police force opened fire at a gathering of Afghan officials and U.S. Special Operations Forces, killing two Americans and sparking a gunbattle that resulted in the deaths of seven Afghans.

Fuel Prices Revive Small U.S. Pickups
Rising fuel prices has General Motors and Chrysler taking a second look at peddling smaller pickup trucks—vehicles that the Detroit Three auto makers abandoned in the U.S. amid weak demand.

Less Demand for Uranium Roils Miners
A crisis of confidence in the nuclear-power industry has trickled down to Namibia, where uranium accounts for 12% of exports. But uranium prices are down 70% over the past six years.

Papal Candidate Raises Profile of a Grass-Roots Movement
The prominent papal candidacy of Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola is shining new light on a growing grass-roots Catholic movement that first took hold during the bloody ideological battles of 1970s Italy.

Private Medicaid Plans Get Push
A pair of states are proposing to use new Medicaid funding to help the poor buy private insurance, a new twist in how to implement the federal health law that is winning support from some Republicans.

Ex-Mayor Convicted In Detroit
A federal jury convicted former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of racketeering conspiracy, capping years of investigation into an administration described by prosecutors as deeply corrupt.

Jack Byrne: The Man Who Saved Floundering Geico
In 1976, Jack Byrne rescued Geico as it teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, kicking off a career as one of the most storied turnaround artists in insurance.

Ex-Sands Official Alleges Impropriety
A former senior executive at Las Vegas Sands, in a recent court filing, accused the company's chairman and biggest shareholder of ordering him several years ago to put improper pressure on the top official in Macau's government.

Oppenheimer & Co. to Pay Fine Over Fund
Oppenheimer & Co. agreed to pay more than $2.8 million to settle federal allegations regarding overstated returns and the value of a former unit's fund, amid growing interest by regulators in how private-equity funds value their investments.

Rush to Sell Apartments May Backfire
Property sellers who rushed to complete deals and lock in tax savings in December, ahead of an increase in capital-gains taxes, may end up worse off than those who waited.

No. 1 Gonzaga Still Isn't a Lock for a No. 1 Seed
CBS broadcaster Clark Kellogg said Monday that only two teams this year are qualified for No. 1 seeds regardless of what they do in their conference tournaments: Duke and Indiana.

Can the Heat Break a D-League Jinx?
The biggest threat to LeBron James winning back-to-back NBA titles might not come from the Oklahoma Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs. It might be from a guy sitting on the Miami bench.

Icahn, Dell in Confidentiality Pact
Icahn reached a pact with Dell that allows him to look at the company's books, days after saying he would push to replace the board and sue if Dell refused a refinancing.

Steps for Surgical Patients to Fight Infection
Hospitals in 10 states are participating in an effort called Project Joints to reduce the risk of infection for patients undergoing joint-replacement surgery.

Cleveland Clinic Forges Alliance
The Cleveland Clinic is forging an alliance with the big for-profit hospital operator Community Health Systems, in a sign of how prestigious medical centers are leveraging their brands to extend their reach.

Yum's China Sales Fall 20%
Yum said same-store sales in its China division fell an estimated 20% in the first quarter as it continued to try to win back customers to its KFC brand following a spate of negative publicity last year.

Harvard Explains Secret Email Search
Harvard offered its first public explanation for its decision to secretly search email accounts of resident deans last fall to find the source of media leaks on a cheating scandal.

Boeing Seeks Movement on 777
Boeing is likely to seek approval from its board as soon as next month to sell a new version of its 777 jetliner, following years of deliberation on upgrading one of the company's best-selling planes.

EIA: Retail Gasoline Price Down 4.9 Cents in Week
The national average retail price of regular gasoline fell 4.9 cents a gallon to a one-month low of $3.71 a gallon in the week ended Monday, the Energy Information Administration said.

Bee Keepers Wary of Neonicotinoids
In "Environmentalists Try to Squash a Bug Killer" (op-ed, March 5) Richard Tren slashes blindly at advocacy work by the Center for Food Safety and others to rein in bee-killing insecticides, specifically a class called neonicotinoids, without telling the real story.

California Is Doing Well, Thank You
Allysia Finley assumes a familiar role in her latest flimflam attempt to tarnish the Golden State, cobbling together data on the movement of what amounted to two-tenths of 1% of California's 38 million people in 2011, to draw sweeping and misleading conclusions about the state's people and policies ("The Reverse-Joads of California," op-ed, March 4). These conclusions are rooted in tired ideology, not sound economics.

Come On, the Sequester Is Hardly the End of the World
Regarding your editorial "#Sequester This" (March 6): Reinstating tours to visit the White House despite the canard of sequestration should be simple. By cutting back only one hour of each day the president spends campaigning for his agenda on Air Force One, the taxpayers would save $180,000.

Rand Paul Had It Right on Drones and U.S. Citizens
Regarding your editorial "Rand Paul's Drone Rant" (March 7): The problem isn't simply the president's ability to kill U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, which everyone acknowledges may be an important tool of the commander in chief if he is faced with an immediate threat and no practical ability to effect a capture.

U.S. Refiners Turn to Rail To Tap Canadian Oil
As the fight over the Keystone XL pipeline drags on, U.S. refining companies are turning to railroads to bring crude from Canada's oil sands to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico.

Prosecutors Seek Tough Sentence in Insider Case
Prosecutors called for as much as four years and nine months in prison for the founder of a California equity research firm who admitted last year to sharing inside information with two hedge-fund managers.

IMF Says Egypt Could Apply for Emergency Credit
Egypt may qualify for an International Monetary Fund bridge loan of more than $700 million a year that could help Cairo stave off collapse of its crisis-stricken economy, an IMF official said on Monday.

Food (and Sweets) for Thought
At the Classic Car Club in SoHo, the Doe Fund held it's second annual fundraiser, called "Sweet," for its focus on food. The group is dedicated to getting homeless and formerly incarcerated men off the streets.

Photos of the Day: March 11
In today's pictures, Yao Ming walks to his seat at a meeting in China, soldiers attend military training in North Korea, a woman competes in a dog sled race in Russia, and more.

Italy Won't Send Accused Marines to India
Italy has decided not to send two marines back to India, where they stand accused of shooting two local fisherman, the Foreign Ministry in Rome said on Monday.

Crucial Time Nears on Iran Nuclear Talks
Capital Journal: The quest to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon is best seen as a race against a clock—a clock that is being read differently in various world capitals, writes Gerald F. Seib.

Failed Sale of Gleacher Is a Warning
The tale of Gleacher & Co.'s failure to sell itself shows how even well-intentioned corporate boards can harm investors in a takeover target. As M&A picks up, directors should take note, Francesco Guerrera writes.

Wirehouses Back Finra Bonus Disclosure Proposal
When Finra announced last fall a proposal that would mandate brokers disclose bonuses they receive when they switch firms, some industry observers predicted strong opposition from brokerage heavyweights.

France May Let Phone Operators Share Networks
France's antitrust authority said that it was open to allowing cellphone operators to share networks, an opinion that could spark deals among the country's four main companies.

Yuan Flows More Freely as China Relaxes Controls
The use of China's yuan abroad is rising as Beijing slowly loosens its grip and allows a wider group of investors to buy the nation's currency, stocks and bonds.

India Rape Suspect Dies, Spurring Probe
An Indian court has ordered an investigation at Tihar Jail, the country's biggest prison, after one of the men accused in a high-profile gang rape was found dead in his cell.
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Lloyds Bank Sells St James Stake
Lloyds Banking Group said it would sell a 20% stake in St James's Place, as the lender looks to cash in on the wealth-management group's recent share rally and bolster its capital base.

Ex-Trader Seeks to Overturn Sentence, Conviction
A group of judges showed little sympathy for a former hedge-fund trader who claimed he was being punished with a lengthy sentence because he refused to plead guilty in a closely watched insider-trading case.

Game Makers Console Themselves in Smartphone Era
Videogame stocks are finally starting to see some action. Today, the media-technology environment is markedly different than during the last gaming cycle.

Cyprus May Be Given Tax Conditions
An increase in Cyprus's corporate tax rate is under consideration as part of negotiations over a proposed official bailout for the island, according to three people with knowledge of the talks.

Renault Shelves Luxury-Sedan Alliance
Renault has decided to back away from its plan to produce a large luxury sedan in partnership with Germany's Daimler. The French auto maker will instead focus on revamping the upper end of its own product range.

Heard on the Street: Buffett's Lesson for Keystone and Canada
For a clue to what is going to happen with Canadian oil amid the Keystone XL pipeline battle, take a look at Warren Buffett's latest letter.

BOJ Nominee Cautious About Cutting Rate Floor
Japan's nominee for the next head of the Bank of Japan, Haruhiko Kuroda, reiterated his resolve to undertake every option to overcome deflation, but he stopped short of endorsing the controversial idea of lowering the floor on short-term interest rates.

Dead Pigs Worry Shanghai
Chinese authorities said they found more than 3,300 dead pigs in a river that supplies water to Shanghai, a stark illustration of China's problems with environmental pollution.

Iberia Nears Restructuring Deal
Spanish airline Iberia and unions representing most of its staff have reached an agreement in principle on a restructuring proposal, raising the prospect of an end to nearly a month of on-and-off work stoppages at the unprofitable carrier, two of the unions said.

House of the Day
English Village Manor
Believed to date from the late 18th century, this eight-bedroom home in Aldbourne, southwest England, sits on about 1.6 acres of land, which includes a self-contained cottage and heated pool.

Optimism Grows in Chinese Auto Market
China's auto market started the year with a 15% sales increase, fueling hopes for a strong 2013 in the world's largest auto market after two consecutive years of modest growth.

Shiseido CEO to Step Down
Shiseido's President and CEO will step down April 1, after just two years at the helm of the Japanese cosmetics company, where profit has been slipping. The current chairman and former CEO will retake the helm.

Preparing for Day When Rates Rise
Figuring that the Federal Reserve won't be able to keep a lid on interest rates forever, large money managers such as BlackRock, TCW Group and Pacific Investment Management are getting ready for the day when rates take their first turn higher.

Hackers Targeted Australia's Central Bank
Australia's central bank said it had been the victim of cyber attacks, adding that none of its computer systems were corrupted and that hackers hadn't gained access to any sensitive data.

Gains in Spain Have Gone Far Enough
Betting that Spanish government bonds will outperform their Italian peers has been a handsome trade for investors so far this year. Now that the gap between 10-year yields on Italian and Spanish debt is closing in on zero, investors should pause for thought.

Boosting Social Security Benefits to Help a Daughter
Stan Molotsky, president and chief executive of SHM Financial Group, has to tell a couple that they have to deal with their own retirement before they could consider helping their daughter.

Pumping the Referrals Pipeline
While Stephen Barnes is finding that most of his new customers are coming to him through referrals from existing clients, the financial adviser sees huge gaps in the process.

Japan Slates Sale of Japan Tobacco Shares
On the two-year anniversary of Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami, the government said Monday it will sell a portion of its stake in Japan Tobacco for $7.8 billion to fund reconstruction.

No End in Sight for Osborne's Turbulence
As the U.K.'s difficulties mount, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is discovering that BOE Governor Mervyn King's Beckett-like doctrinal rigidity is at odds with the more worldly concerns of elected politicians.

Spain Said to Seek Help on Banks
Spain's bank-bailout fund is seeking to hire advisers to help shape a long-term strategy for dealing with its portfolio of nationalized lenders, a week after calling off an auction of one of the most troubled banks, said people briefed about the plan.

Investors Commit to Indonesian Retailer
More than a dozen investors have agreed to buy shares of Indonesian retailer Matahari Department Store from private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners when it floats $1.4 billion of its stake in the department store chain.

Payrolls Prove the Dollar Is King
Friday's U.S. payrolls report was not as good as it looked. But the dollar is now being driven by interest rate expectations and disappointing data elsewhere make the greenback more attractive.

FX GLOBAL CALL: Our Take on the Day's Big FX News
The FX Global Call covers the main talking points from a news meeting involving DJ FX Trader editors in New York, London and Singapore, as well as other FX hot spots when warranted.

A Matter of Trust
Representatives from plaintiffs' law firms that have had large numbers of asbestos clients often serve on advisory committees of the bankruptcy trusts established to settle their claims. The committees typically help set general payout policies and in some cases sign off on audits.

India Mulls Changes to Law on Sexual Violence
India's federal cabinet will consider Tuesday a modified bill to replace an interim law which was introduced last month to strengthen sexual-assault laws following the brutal gang rape of a young woman in New Delhi.

China Hints at Shift in One-Child Policy
China plans to strip power from the agency that oversees its one-child policy, in a move observers said could mean the eventual phaseout of the much criticized population-control effort.

Sistema Gets Spectrum in India
Russian conglomerate Sistema's Indian unit won back telecommunications bandwidth through an auction in eight of 21 service areas where its licenses were revoked by the Supreme Court last year.

Hungary Central Bank Rejig, Constitution Vote Hit Forint
The Hungarian forint drops sharply to a 10-month low, as traders and investors fret over the changes to Hungary's central bank governors and as the country' parliament gets set to vote on an amendment to the constitution that the European Commission said may go against the rule of law.

As Asbestos Claims Rise, So Do Worries About Fraud
A WSJ investigation into asbestos trust claims and court cases of roughly 850,000 people filed since the late 1980s found many apparent anomalies. First in a series.

China Yuan Down on PBOC Guidance
China's yuan fell against the U.S. dollar after the central bank guided it weaker via a daily reference rate, but the local currency's downside was capped on heightened hopes for the yuan to appreciate after data showed strong exports and higher inflation.

India Car Sales Fall 26%
Car sales in India dropped 26% in February from a year earlier, the steepest fall in 12 years, as a sluggish economy, high fuel prices and rising interest rates continued to crimp consumer demand.

Two Years Later, Slow Progress on Cleanup
Monday's two-year anniversary of Japan's devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear catastrophe highlights the country's ongoing struggle to clean up radiation, rebuild lost communities and seek new energy and economic strategies.

Hong Kong's New World Seeks Hotels IPO
New World Development plans to raise as much as $1 billion by listing its hospitality assets in Hong Kong, in an effort to capitalize on the city's booming property and tourism sectors.

Up in the Sky
More than 50 balloons will lift off from the center of Australia's capital city every morning until March 17 during the annual balloon festival, which this year coincides with the city's centenary celebrations.